[paint it black]

I decided to sell my D3000 and picked up the D3100.
Now, the pictures I take look like crap..............lol
I do the same things I did with the D3000, yet these pictures look like if I was shooting poorly in auto, when in fact I shot Manual.

What am I doing wrong?

I'm tempted to pick up another D3000 body.

Although I love how the night time pictures come out.

Anything out in the light the pictures look shitty.
Ive been told to use flash to fill in the shadows. But when I do, it looks way too bright and burned.

 

[paint it black]

some of the better pics I've taken with it, and yet they still look like crap.

at home I have many terrible pictures that I have to host on photobucket.

 

[swaddict]

I am by no means an expert in this world, but do have some experience. From the first pic, I do not believe flash would help, object is too far away and sun is very high. The last 2 would help with flash. Are you shooting in RAW? This would allow to change the exposure. I'm a Canon guy, but I always use the histogram to judge how my photos are turning out. When I view the photo on the display I make sure that the histogram is shown along side the photo, then make changes based on the histogram. Google histogram. Also try stepping down the exposure when using flash outdoors. I also use a high quality lens with a hood for outdoor shooting. Love the black, looks good on your boat.

 

[Yoreese]

X2 on flash no help on the truck photo, mid-day sun is just bad light.  Fill flash is the fix for the grip and grin photos.  As mentioned Histogram is an invaluable tool with digital photography. Also make sure to turn on the "blinkies" as this will immediately show blown highlights.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-E...fvicbgac/1/Learning-to-Use-the-Histogram.html

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-E...ology/ftlzi4zp/1/Auto-FP-High-speed-Sync.html

 

[Surfincb]

Pretty much what they said. Fill flash is a wonderful tool for portraits and close shots! But, remember to dial down your flash power, rarely will you need full power as fill. New nikons take a bit of getting used to. I know quite a few people that have issues with the front focusing feature! So, if you haven't already, turn that off!

 

[TheAdamsProject]

If your really worried about fill flash then maybe spend the money and get an sb-600 or sb-800 flash and it will allow you to adjust flash and adjust it at different focal lengths. The grip and grin shots can be tough with the onboard flash as its hitting the fisherman and fish directly in the face and can reflect off of sunglasses or off the fish and wash out the fish brilliant colors. Take the time to learn all the new and different settings and you will be able to fix small shadows with editing software. As for RAW my .02 is that is somewhat of a waste as it takes up tons of space and time and you need software to read it. Check out www.kenrockwell.com as he has tons of excellent info. Are you just putting the camera on auto and clicking away?
I will say you made a good choice going from the d3000 to the d3100 though.